This invention relates to improvements in or relating to cooling towers. The invention relates in particular to a method of and means for supporting the packing in wet cooling towers in which a heated liquid is cooled evaporatively by natural or induced air flow. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of and means for supporting a packing which is of a modular configuration and comprises a plurality of packing elements.
According to the invention there is provided a method of supporting a packing element of a packing of an evaporative cooling tower, the method including the step of suspending the element at a central region of the element.
The packing may be of the splash pack type, which splits and diffuses a spray of heated liquid into smaller droplets and the packing element is adapted to split and diffuse the spray of liquid into smaller droplets.
The splash pack comprises a plurality of splash elements or splash ribs, each having splash surfaces which may consist of a variety of forms such as grids, bars, rods or slats, and may consist of a variety of materials such as synthetic plastics materials or timber.
The method may include suspending the packing element by means of a support formation provided thereon. Still further the method may include suspending the packing element by means of a tensile element in the form of a wire hanger having hooked ends, one of the hooked ends being engageable with the support formation.
The packing element may have an elongate splash member and has a first support formation on one side, and a second support formation on the other side of the splash member, and the packing element is suspended by means of either the first or the second support formation.
Further according to the invention there is provided a method of constructing a packing of an evaporative cooling tower, including suspending packing elements from one another at central regions of the packing elements.
The packing may be of the splash pack type comprising several vertically spaced layers of packing elements.
In order to obtain optimum splitting efficiency, it is desirable that the splash ribs in the packing elements should not be vertically aligned in successive layers in order to ensure that droplets which do not splash on the splash ribs in one layer of elements will fall onto the splash ribs in a lower layer of elements.
Accordingly, the method may include arranging the packing elements in successive layers in the splash pack so that splash members of the packing elements in vertically successive layers are horizontally off-set from each other.
Thus, in plan view, several layers of splash elements will present an unbroken surface without any openings.
Each packing element may have a first support formation on one side of its splash member and a second support formation on the other side of its splash member, and the packing elements in two vertically spaced layers are suspended by means of different support formations such that the splash members in two vertically spaced layers are horizontally off-set from each other.
The first support formations may be adjacent their splash members and the second support formations are spaced a distance from their splash members, and which includes turning the elements through 180 degrees after the second layer and then again suspending the elements at alternative support formations in the central region of the elements in a third and a fourth layer of elements, so that all four layers are horizontally offset from each other.
The second support formations may be spaced from their splash members a distance equal to the thickness of the splash members such that the packing elements in successive layers are horizontally offset from each other by a distance equal to the width of one splash member so that in the four layers the elements will be off-set in the first and the fourth layers by four splash member widths.
Each packing element may have a plurality of splash members all of the same width and separated from each other a distance equal to four times their width.
Each packing element may further have a plurality of spaced-apart splash members with one of the splash members of each element being centrally located, the packing elements being suspended at central regions of the central splash members.
Further according to the invention there is provided a packing element for an evaporative cooling tower, the element having a support formation at a central region of the element by means of which the element can be suspended at the central region of the element.
The packing may be of the splash pack type, which is adapted to split and diffuse a spray of heated liquid into smaller droplets, the packing element having one or more splash member for splitting and diffusing the spray of heated liquid into smaller droplets.
The packing element may be suspendable by means of a tensile element in the form of a wire hanger having hooked ends, one of the hooked ends being engageable with the support formation.
More than one support formation may be included at the central region of the packing element, the support formations being spaced from each other.
The packing element may have a centrally located splash member, a first support formation on one side of the centrally located splash member, and a second support formation on the other side of the centrally located splash member.
The first support formation may be adjacent the centrally located splash member, and the second support formation may be spaced from the centrally located splash member a distance equal to its width.
The packing element may be a panel moulded of a synthetic plastics material.
The panel may be rectangular and may have a surrounding rib and two sets of ribs extending at right angles to each other between the surrounding rib. The two sets of ribs may be diagonally oriented.
By extending diagonally across the packing element, the splash ribs together with the surrounding rib provide a convenient orientation feature for orienting the packing elements during assembly.
Conveniently, one corner of the surrounding rib is made obtuse.
The obtuse corner thereby forms the tail of an arrowhead having its point diagonally opposite the obtuse corner. The arrowhead thus formed provides a convenient means for orienting the packing element.
One set of ribs may be splash ribs, while the other set of ribs may be stiffening ribs for stiffening and locating the splash ribs.
The splash ribs may all have the same width, the spacing between the centres of the splash ribs is four times their width.
The invention also extends to a packing for an evaporative cooling tower of the splash pack type incorporating packing elements in accordance with the invention.
The invention still further extends to a packing for an evaporative cooling tower of the splash pack type including packing elements suspended according to the method of the invention.
Still further the invention extends to an evaporative cooling tower including a packing in accordance with the invention.
The invention still further extends to a tensile element in the form of a wire hanger for suspending a packing element according to the method of the invention or for a packing element in accordance with the invention.
The tensile element may be of stainless steel.
The wire hanger may have a hooked end at each end thereof and the hooked ends may be co-planar.